The Capital One Cup – aka the League Cup – kicks off on Tuesday UK time but has been almost forgotten about with all the new season fanfare.
With all the hype of the opening day weekend just gone, does the League Cup capture the imagination this early in the season? Or in fact at all, as most of the big names tend to play second string sides, and a lot of the lower teams have bigger fish to fry in their own division – with Sheffield Utd and Bradford City being the recent exceptions.
The FA Cup is loved for its tradition and giant killings, whereas the League Cup seems to be a minor nuisance. Is it because the League Cup is seen as poor man’s FA Cup or that the football fans have only room for one competition in their hearts? Either way, maybe it’s time to do something a little more radical to shake it up.
For the neutral, it’s always interesting to see lower division teams getting as far as possible, or at least giving the big boys a hard time, and the FFA Cup in Australia might just have the answer. While that competition is a little too heavily manufactured to ensure one non-A League in the final four, some lessons can be taken in ensuring the lower teams get as far as possible and give them the best chance of putting on a show.
Here’s a suggestion to spice it up a bit, without ruining too much of the fabric of a normal Cup competition.
Round 1
Championship, League One and League Two teams are drawn against teams in their own division only. This ensures 12 teams from each division move to the next round.
Round 2
The 12 teams from each division continue to play teams within their own division to leave 6 teams from each level to the third round.
The bottom 12 EPL teams play against each other, with the 9 worst from last year plus three promoted sides. In total, 6 sides from the EPL remain in the draw.
Round 3
The six teams each from the Championship enter. League One, and League Two are joined by the 6 winners from the EPL side of Round 2, plus the top 8 EPL sides who have yet to play. This leaves 32 teams remaining.
From here it is open slather. Until the semi-finals all games are played at the home ground of the lower-ranked side from the year before.
Not that will guarantee upsets, but it will provide a bigger chance. It gives the lower-ranked sides a little and sometimes much needed cash boost if they draw a big gun. With a game less for the top 8 EPL sides, it will be easier for them to participate as they have just five games to a final.
Round 4
16 teams play each other with the lower ranked team at home.
Round 5
8 teams play each other with the lower ranked team at home.
Semi finals
There will be one leg only – played at neutral venue – maybe even trying out something like the new Olympic Stadium or Millenium Stadium or Wembley.
Otherwise, perhaps the best for and against from Round 3 onwards gets the right to host, putting a little more emphasis on all the games.
Either way, the most important thing is that there will be only one game – no more two-legged semi final series.
Final
The final will take place at Wembley Stadium.
That’s just a quick revamp idea that could work. Of course nothing tops your side winning and progressing for interest in this competition.
For those interested, here is the Round 1 fixtures to be played mostly on Tuesday night UK and Wednesday 4:55am in Australia.
Round 1
Accrington V Hull
Blackburn V Shrewsbury
Brentford V Oxford Utd
Bristol Rovers V Birm C
Cardiff V Wimbledon
Carlisle V Chesterfield
Charlton V Dag and Red
Colchester V Reading
Fleetwood V Hartlepool
Huddersfield V Notts Co
Ipswich V Stevenage
Luton V Bristol City
Millwall V Barnet
MK Dons V Leyton Orient
Morecambe V Sheff Utd
Northampton V Blackpool
Nottm Forest V Walsall
Peterborough V Crawley
Plymouth V Gillingham
Port Vale V Burnley
Rochdale V Coventry
Rotherham V Cambridge
Scunthorpe V Barnsley
Sheff Wed V Mansfield
Southend V Brighton
Swindon V Exeter
Wigan V Bury
Wolves V Newport
Wycombe V Fulham
Yeovil V QPR
York V Bradford
Bolton V BurtonWednesday
Crewe V Preston
Oldham V Middlesbrough
Portsmouth V DerbyThursday
Doncaster v Leeds
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